Counterbalance for lamps or chandeliers.



PATENTED JUNE 2,1903;

' GOUNTERBALANGE FOR LAMPS OR GHANDELIERS.

APPLIOAT IONIILED MAB. 3, 1902.

N0 IODEL.

WITNESSES:

V ATTORNEYS loop at the central portion to the weight and UNITED "STATES x Patented June 2, 1903.

PATENT OFFIC HERMAN F. NEHR,OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AssIeNoR To BENZIGER BROS on NEW YORK, N. Y.

couNTERBAL'ANc-E FOR LAMPS OR CHANDELIERS.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 729,886, dated June 1903.

. Application filed March 3, 1902. Serial No. 96.387. (Nomodeh) 1'0 alt whom it pray concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN F. NEHR, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of.

Brooklyn, in the county of Kin gs and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in .Counterbalances for Lamps, Chandeliers, 850., of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates ,to a counterbalance for lamps, chandeliers,"&c.,; and it has, for an object to provide a construction which will operate with little friction and which'is simple in construction and not apt to getont of order; also, to provide a construction in which a cable instead of a chain may be used for the flexible suspending connection between the lamp or chandelier and the weight and also one in which the flexible connection cannot become twisted or misplaced on the pulleys, the counterbalance being thereby-especially adapted for the safe suspension of very heavy weights. These and other objects of the invention will more fully appear from the following description.

My invention consists in the novel parts, improvements, and combinations herein shown and described. v .7

The accompanying drawings, which are referred to herein and form part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of my invention and serve, in connection with the description herein, to explain the principles of the invention and the best mode contemplated by me of carrying those principles into effect.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, illustrating a counterbalance constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of part of the device, the section being taken at right angles to that in Fig. 1. Fig.3 is an inverted plan of a detail of the construction.

Like reference-numerals refer to like parts wherever they appear in the drawings.

A counterbalance constructedin accordance with my invention comprises a pair of suspension-pulleys mounted on horizontal axes, a weight having a pair of guide-openings, a flexible member connected by a free extending over the pulleys in opposite directions, then back through the guide-openings to the lamp-support, where the free ends are secured. The pulleys are preferably arranged side by side on the same axis, and they are preferably made of ample diameter to permit the safe use of a wire cable of such dimensions as to carry the weight with a large factor of safety. The weight preferably'consists of a hollow casing, which may be filled with a subdivided ballast material, so that the lamp or chandelier to-be suspended may be balanced with nicety.

Referring to the drawings in detail, nu-

merals 1; and? represent a pain'of supportingpulleys, the samebeing preferably, as shown, mountedupon the same pivotal pin or shaft 3, which -is secured inthe'lower ends of a suspensiomyoke 4 in the usual manner.

5 is the weight, .which, as shown, is constructedrof sheet metal, the same being spun into any. desirable ornamental form, the only essentialbeing in this respect that there shall be ample roomprovided ato receive a sufficient quantity of ballast to balance the article which is to be suspended. The weight-casing -5 is provided with a pair of vertical tubular openings or guide-passages 6, which are located at equal distances from the vertical center of the weightcasing and are separated from each other by a distance corresponding to the diameter of the pulleys 1 and 2. The guide-openin gs are preferably, and as shown, formed of metallic tube sections, which are expanded into suitable openings in the oppositeends of casing 5. The upper end of casing-5 is provided with an opening 7, through which the ballast material may be admitted to .or discharged from the casing, said opening'being formed by an inwardly flanged lip S of the casing. For thezpui'ipose of providing a means of attachment for a suitable flexible suspension connection 9;be. tween the weight and-the object to be supported a small casting 10 is fitted ,in the opening 7 of the casing 5, the same preferably having a circular rim 11, which is adapted to engage the \under surface of the flange 8. The casting 10 may be given any suitable form adapted to facilitate the attachment thereto of the flexible connection 9. Preferably, as is shown, the casting 10 is provided with a diametrically-arr. nged cross-bar 12, which is formed on the lower side of its central portion with a substantially semicircular groove 13, adapted to receive a central bend or loop of the connection 9.

The flexible connection 9 extends from the casting 10 to the pulleys 1 2, and after passing around them. in opposite directions, one strand on each pulley, the two strands pass downwardly through the guide-openings 6 in the weight and are attached at their lower ends to the yoke 14:, which may be provided with a hook 15, from which the lamp or chandelier is suspended. The openings in the opposite ends of the yoke 14 should be inline with the opening 6 in the weight and with the groove at the opposite sides of the adjusting-pulleys, so that when the lamp is suspended from the hook 15 the weight may be passed upwardly or downwardly along the vertical strands of the connection 9 without binding upon them. The flexible connection 0 is preferably in the form of a rope or a cable, and where very heavy weights are supported, as in the case of a large chan' delier, this connection is preferably made of wire. Other suitable forms of flexible connectionsuch as chains, fiber ropes, &c.may be used, if desired. The ends of the flexible connection 9 should be removably secured to the yoke 14, so that when the connection becomes worn it maybe easily replaced by a new one. Where a wire rope is used, the form of attachment between its ends and the yoke 14: preferably consists in casting onto each end of the cable atapered' plug 16, said plugs being adapted to engage upwardly-tapered openings in the yoke 14.

By reason of the form of connection between cable 9 and the casting 10, shown and described, the cable is permitted to slip slightly in either direction, so as to permit the yoke 14 to assume a horizontal position or such a position' that the point of attachment to the suspended object will be midway between the two vertical strands of the cable. In this way the device is permitted to autom atically adj ust itself so as to equalize the strain on all parts of the flexible connection and to keep the parts in their proper relative position so as to avoid all binding.

ranged as to interfere with the proper and smooth operation of the device.

My invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the precise construction shown nor to the particular construction by which it may be carried into effect, as many changes may be made in the minor details of the construction without departing from the main principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a counterbalance for lamps and chandeliers, the combination with a pair of pulleys mounted to rotate in vertical planes, of a weight having a pair of guide-openings arranged in vertical alinement with the opposite sides of said pulleys, and a flexible member connected by a free loop at its central portion to said weight and extending upwardly and in opposite directions over said pulleys, then downwardly through said guide openings, said connection being secured at its opposite ends to the lamp-support, substantially as described.

2. In a counterbalance for lamps and chandeliers, the combination with a pair of pulleys mounted side by side on the same axis, of a Weight having a pair of guide-openings arranged in vertical alinement with the opposite sides of said pulleys, and a wire cable connected by a free loop at its central portion to said weight, and extending upwardly and in opposite directions over said pulleys, then downwardly through said guide openings, said wire rope being secured at its opposite ends to the lamp-support, substantially as de* scribed.

In a counterbalance for lamps and chandeliers, the combination with a pair of pulleys mounted side by side on the same axis, of a weight having a pair of guide-openings arranged in vertical alinement with the opposite sides of said pulleys, and a wire cable connected by a free loop at its central portion to said weight, and extending upwardly and in opposite directions over said pulleys, then downwardly through said guide -openings, said wire cable being secured at its opposite ends to the yoke by means of taper plugs removably fitting in tapered openings in the yoke, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERMAN F. NEHR. Witnesses: JOHN T. FINN,

O. H. A. MILHAN.

ICC

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